If you are a seemstress, tailor or care taker of vintage clothing, this is a good reference book for you.
Cost 45.00 plus shipping.
Vintage Retro
Vintage Collectibles
Head Vases
Retro 1960's Dresses
Vintage Clothing 1960's Mod
Fun Vintage Clothes
Cool Kitten 1950's Sweaters
Vintage Shoes
Vintage and Reto Hats
Purses and Handbags
Thrift Shop Finds
Hippie Hut & Clothing
Hippie Purses
Flea Market Finds
Coin Collecting
Past Finds and Sales
Thrift Shop Reviews
Logan Ohio Vintage Malls
Vintage Cocktail Recipes
Vintage Drinks and Canapes
Funk It Again Sam
Little Bit of Everything Old
In it there was a short chapter on the history of irons.
If you wish to purchase the book, price is 45.00 plus shipping. Once purchased the information on this page will be deleted.
The book discusses the history of irons, from its humble beginnings in China, with their Smooth Bottomed brass containers, filled with coals and moved slowly back and forth over fabrics, to the first electrically heated iron used in the Minneapolis clothing factory in 1890.
The Vikings brought irons found in Scotland. These irons are described as a "mushroom" iron because of the handles on the chipped and polished stone. The stem of the "mushroom" was the handle.
The book recalls mushroom irons made of thick black glass with a smoothly polished surface have been discovered. No, they did not heat it. China had developed the first iron used with heat.
The irons used in Europe during the 17th and 18th Centuries were made of red or yellow bronze or copper and of iron. Imagine, an iron made of iron.
There were lots of different innovations. One such iron used a shelf, burning charcoal was placed or a bar of red hot iron, called a "slug" was placed. One had an interior compartment where coals burned to ashes, then fresh pieces were added. These irons had chimneys which reach height of three inches or more. That way the fumes and smoke wouldn't dirty the clean clothes.
More modern irons known as "sad" irons, because the irons were real heavy. Guess that would make any housewife sad. No, seriously, the word sad meant heavy then. Good ole slang, always changing, you know that. But this is where we get the word "sad" from. Ironing was a chore to the housewife, making her feel unhappy. The word "sad" took on a new meaning.
You needed about a dozen sadirons heating at a time because they lost their heat relative quickly. There was a wooden handle that clamped on and off the irons, so you could have a new one ready when you needed more heat. You simply had to do your ironing near the kitchen stove.
Around 1850 the use of gas served as a heat source for irons. There were two types of gas heated irons which differed mostly in the way they heated. One was a solid cast iron, rested on a standard set of gas jets. This jets had to be connected to the gas outlet on the wall...guess that was for the wealthy gals.
The second had a row of gas jets built in the iron itself. A tube directly connected the iron to the gas outlet. Frankly I don't see much difference.
Electricity revolutionized the iron. After that clothing factory in Minneapolis started using the electric iron, the gals wanted to take the irons home with them, but the development of the home electric iron was slow to take off. Technical difficulties. Where was a heating element that could stand the high temperatures? Different alloys were tried. Platinum, too expensive. Copper or iron? Oxidized to quickly.
What were they to do! Finally nickel and chromium saved the day and from that time on, electric irons were used.
The heat of the first electric iron wasn't regulated and you had to turn off the electric to turn it off. Blow fuses, burnt shirts, and burned out irons were the result. Yet, despite all the trouble needed to use these irons, it was a welcome relief from the old sadirons or gas irons.
There were inherent dangers of over-heating irons which were causing fires, so irons were restricted to 500 watts of electric power. This wattage was insufficient for ironing damp linens and cottons unless the iron was very heavy and the iron was moving slowly. This is the reason electric irons weighed six to nine pounds or even more.
It tells you the invention of the thermostat lead the way for today's light weight, safe, fast heating irons.
It discusses the automatic shut off switch when the maximum temperature was reached. It says the first practical adjustable iron thermostat was used on an iron made by Proctor Electric Company.
Irons soon came with 1000 wattage. These were developed by Proctor also. Proctor proved that weight was a non essential for successful ironing. They tested iron after iron, until they settled on a 3 1/2 lb iron.
High powered and light weight, these irons improved till today the old water sprinkler bottle is no longer needed.
We have irons that automatically shut off and offer us steam and heat on various levels.
Thank you Proctor, we love you and thank you, Mary Proctor for writing this book. I loved it.
She said basically, if there is no label in a dress, then may be able to tell what the fabric is made of by using the burning test. She said to take several threads from the fabric and twist the ends. The quickly burn and blow out the flame. Wool and silk have a pungent odor. The vegetable fibers, like cotton and linen do not.
Silk will have a little black curled up knob at the end of the burned thread. If the thread burns leaving a metallic ash in the shape of the fiber, it is "weighted" silk, and has been treaded with metallic salts to make it heavier.
Viscose rayon fibers burn with a fast flashing flame and leave little ash.
Acetate fibers, when burned, melt and leave a hard shining end.
The burn test is not accurate if a fabric is a blend of many fabrics, or a special finish has been added to the fabric.
She said cotton, linen, silk and wool are natural fibers. Some younger girls may not know that.
Rayons are chemically transformed fabrics of natural products.
3 main kinds are viscose, acetate, and cuprammonium.
Spun rayon is not a separate kind of rayon. It is rayon spun from fibers cut in short lengths.
Viscose is wood pulp.
Acetate is from cotton linters.
Cuprammonium is from wood pulp or cotton linters.
Nylon is made from coal, air, and water.
Since Mary wrote about fibers, many new ones have been developed, but we are only going to talk about our "vintage" clothes here.
Check out the fabric finishes they had then...
Water Repellent - Crease Resistant - Pre Shrunk Finish - Permanent Finish - Air Cooled Finish - Anti Fume Finish - Fire Retardant Finish
Ah ha! She said the fire retardant finish can be done at home by mixing seven ounces of borax and three ounces of boric acid, and dissolve in two quarts of warm water. Rinse clean article in this solution and let dry. O, rats, must be re-done after every washing.
O, here is a bit of trivia......sew labels in clothing. Name tapes were sold in the notion departments of stores. Who now knows what a notion's department is?
Presto name tapes were sold by the March Products Company, 274 Perl Street, New Your 7.
One part of this book I found most interesting was a section on the Laundry Sick Room.
It noted that spore forming bacteria, such as anthrax or gas gangrene, will not have been destroyed by boiling at the maintained temperature of 165 degrees.
I thought this reference to "anthrax" was interesting. Anthrax was used so nonchalant, like it was an occasional occurrence, but great fear was not attached. Mary attributed this section to the Farmers' Bulletin No. 1497, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, p. 39 as her reference.
I sell what I love, wish I could keep, but can't wear, use, have to many of, or can't find another empty place in my home.
Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns. Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to check out the rest of my website.